'Is The Economy For Humans Or AI?' Zoho's Co-Founder Sridhar Vembu Weighs In

In an exclusive interaction with Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-Chief of Republic Media Network, Sridhar Vembu, Co-Founder of Zoho, dispelled fears linked to jobs losses as a direct result of widespread AI deployment across the South Asian nation.

"Nobody can really know what's truth here, the truth has to be experienced over time. In the past technological revolutions such as the industrial revolution destroyed many jobs. In the textile sector, weaving jobs were destroyed, however, many other jobs around textiles were born, which one could not have imagined when machines were first invented," Vembu said. 

Is the Economy for Humans or AI?

The Chief Scientist at Zoho Corporation noted that it's pertinent to understand "who will be doing the buying and selling eventually", and whether the economy favours "humans or artificial intelligence".

"If the answer to this is that humans will be in control, then ultimately the human economy will dominate, and humans will be selling it other humans and getting paid for it," he noted.

Will AI Take Over White Collar Jobs?

Amid the ongoing AI Impact Summit 2026, tech visionary Sridhar Vembu noted, “I don't think we have lost meaningful number of jobs after all jobs in software have gone up even in the US and India. The evidence so far suggests that jobs have not gone away.”

"There are millions of businesses that need help in navigating how to make the best use of AI. Aiding these companies in navigating this itself will create jobs," he said.

Sharing an instance to illustrate the hype over job losses was being overextended, he said, "When internet emerged, several firms helped other companies set up their websites. Those are still jobs. People are actually working these jobs. Similarly, Indian firms could transition to helping companies worldwide take advantage of AI tools in their marketing campaigns or even setting up a mart."

Also Read: Future of AI is ‘Humans Plus AI,’ Not Replacing: Ex-KPMG CEO Arun Kumar

Meanwhile, the Indian developer community of 24 million individuals is the second largest national community on GitHub, where developers learn about and collaborate with the world on AI.

Indian developers rank second globally in open-source contributions, second in GitHub Education users, and second in contributions to public generative AI projects, with readiness to use tools like GitHub Copilot across academic, enterprise, and public interest settings enabling AI diffusion.

Noting the demographic dividend that India has when it comes absorbing AI-led advancements, Vembu said, “India has an advantage. We have a youthful workforce that can easily learn to make use of AI tool.”

Further, he pointed to the angst in the west when it comes to learning new AI tools, while noting that for someone in their early 20's that doesn't pose as a major problem. 

"These are exactly the reasons why, I'm particularly optimistic about Inda," he said.